Aeroflot Aims to Cut More Jobs

It has now been said that Aeroflot, who has already cut 500 jobs, could be cutting up to 6,000 more. This is more than one third of its 15,500 employees. The airline went on to say that the general director has more than once said that the staff will need to be thinned. Now that the crisis is growing, this need has become very necessary.

Back in July, the airline said that its net profits in 2008 had plummeted by 88 percent to just £20 million when compared to 2007. The company went on to blame the high fuel costs and, of course, its cargo operations as being the reason for its losses. Aeroflot’s cargo operation had to declare bankruptcy in June.

Aeroflot, which currently serves 47 countries, has pushed back the purchase of five Airbuses by more than two to three years. The Russian airline, which is more than 50 percent owned by the government, has said that it plans to cut at least 2,000 jobs in the next six months so people need to be ready.

However, Aeroflot did say that more job cuts could follow on top of this 2,000. Once again, this is due to the falling profits due to fuel costs and fewer passengers. Overall, the staff cuts could turn out to be about 13 percent of the total workforce at Aeroflot. However, this is not unheard of in the airline industry due to the recent economic downturn. Many other airlines have also chosen to cut many employees in order to save money. One such airline would be Japan Airlines.